Illuminated sign.



W. REED-LETHBRIDGE.

ILLUMINATED SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED IuNE23, |915.

ILLUMINATED SIGN.

invasor.

Application filed June 23, 1915. serial N6. 35,914.

To all whom z't may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM REED-LETH-BRIDGE, subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing atNumber Hawker street, in the city of Wellington, in the Dominion of NewZealand, have invented a new and useful Improvement in IlluminatedvSigns; and I do hereby declarethe follow- Y ing to be a full,.clear, andexact description of the same.

This invention relates to illuminated signs:

of the class whereinI an intermittent illumination is employed todisplay the matter.

The invention has for its object the obtaining .in an effective manner achange of matter upon one or more stationary plates or' sheets by meansof intermittent illumination.

According hereto a plate or sheet of material which when illuminated bya light of greater magnitude from the rear than from like transparentsubstance will lill up the interstices.

Asuitable material is wire gauze or finely perforated metal. Throughoutthe specification and claims where an interstitial or perforatedmaterial is mentioned a material that will give the above result will beunderstood.

1 The intermittent illumination of the different sheets may be broughtabout by an ordinary electric asher or modification thereof.

Whereii-both lights are intermittent the asher will switch one set oflights olf synchronously with switching the other set on.

In theaccompanying drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation of the sign.Fig. 2 is a cross sectional elevation on line A-A Fig. 1.

Fi t is a front view of the sheet of interstitia material'. K

Fig. 4 is a cross section ofthe said sheet.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Aug. 6, 1918.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of the material.

Referring to the drawings the sheet of interstitial material 1 isprovided in a casing 2 having an open front. The saidsheet 1 isstretchedupon a frame 3- which is guided and retained in position bymeans of a recess Llin the bottom and sides of the casing 2. The top ofthe casing 2 has a slot 5l opposite the recess 4 through which the frame3 is passed.

By this means sheetshaving diHerent display matter upon them may beeasily substituted for the sheet that is being employed.

The sheet of interstitial matter consists of a substance of which thematerial itself is opaque or may be rendered opaque and the intersticesof which are of the same or greater varea than the material itself. Sofar I have found wire gauze of fine mesh the most suitable for thispurpose.

Upon the face of the sheet the display matter is depicted by a suitablepaint, care being taken that the interstices are not filled up by thepaint. 'Ihe rear side of the sheet is then given a required coat ofvarnish until the interstices 7 (see Fig. 5) are entirelyfilled. Thedisplay matter for the rear of the sheet is then painted upon-the rearof the said sheet. y

. When the sheet is illuminated from the front, only the matter depictedupon the face thereof will be visible from the front of the sign, butwhen the rear of the sheet is illuminated, only the mat-ter depictedupon the rear thereof will be visible from the front of the sign.

f Electric bulbs 8 ofthe elongated type illuminate the front of thesheet.

Electric bulbs 10 within the casing are adapted to illuminate the sheet1 from the rear. The wires 11 from an electric circuit are led into thecasing through a hole 13 and are connected to an electric iasher 14which may be of ordinary construction.

The flasher alternately switches thel current from the bulbs 8 to thebulbs 10'a'nd y from the bulbs 10 to the bulbs 8.

Instead of the lights from the bulbs 8 being intermittent they may beconstant; in that case thelbulbs 10 would alone be intermittent, but thelight from them would be of reater magnitude so as to overpower thelights from'the bulbs 8. Similarly the bulbs 8 may be intermittent andthe bulbs 10 constant.

What f claim is 1. An intermittently illuminated sign having aninterstitial screen at the front thereof and bearing a design on theface thereof, transparent filling material applied to the interstitialscreen and bearing a design whichwill appear' through the intersticeswhen the screen is illuminated from the rear, substantially as setforth.

2. An intermittently illuminated sign having an interstitial screen atthe front thereof and bearing a design on the face thereof, varnishapplied to the interstitial screen and bearing a design thereon whichWill appear through the interstices when the screen is illuminated fromthe rear, substantially as set forth.

3. ln an illuminated sign, the combination with a casing and electricalintermittent illumination of an interstitial screen, a design on theface thereof and transparent filling material applied to theinterstitial screen and bearing a design which will appear through theinterstices when the screen is illuminated from the rear substantiallyas set forth.

4. ln an intermittently illuminated sign, an interstitial screen at thefront thereof, a design on the face thereof. the interstices of saidscreen being filled with varnish from the rear side thereof. a designpainted oh the varnish filling the interstices Which design will appearthrough the interstices When the Largeur screen is illuminated from therear, substantially as set forth.

5. fn an intermittently illuminated sign, an interstitial screen of Wiregauze at the front thereof. a design on the face of said screen, theinterstices of said wire gauze screen being filled with varnish from therear side thereof. a desion painted on the varnish fillingtheinterstices which design will appear through the interstices when thescreen is illuminated from the rear, substantially as set forth.

6. Au illuminated sign comprising a casing, an open front to saidcasing,a recess Within said casing, a slot in the top of said casingleading to said recess, a frame retained in position in the recess andadapted to be inserted through said slot, a sheet of interstitialmaterial stretched upon said frame, a design depicted on the'face ofsaid sheet, transparent filling material applied to the interstices ofsaid sheet, 4display matter depicted upon the rear side of said sheet,

said sheet being alternately illuminatedl from the front and rear,substantially as set forth.

lin testimony whereof lf have signed my name to this specification inthepresence of two subscribing Witnesses:

WlflLlLlfAM REED-LETHBRIBGE.

Witnesses SYDNEY H. Hroes, EDMOND P. ODONNELL.

